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Executive Summary Book Reviews by Andrew Everett

Treat Your Customers

Treat Your Customers: Thirty Lessons on Service and Sales That I Learned at my Family’s Dairy Queen Store

by Bob Miglani

Miglani uses situations from his parents’ Dairy Queen store as the basis for customer service lessons applicable to business in general–including Fortune 500 companies like the one where he works as a sales executive. Thirty bite-size chapters in plain English make this a quick read.

The common thread throughout this book is a mindset focused on pleasing customers and earning their repeat business. Topics include customer service, up-selling, work ethic, leadership, and supplier relationships.

Miglani suggests that our vocabulary can distance us from customers. “By removing words like ‘client’ or ‘consumer’ we remove the wall between ‘them’ and ‘us.’ Without a wall to separate us, we are more able to treat them like real people.”

“I can’t imagine running a business, whether it’s a Dairy Queen or a major Fortune 500 company, without having a real feel for customers… It’s a good business practice to go on the front line occasionally. It not only helps to get a flavor for the business, but also give the employees a sense there’s someone in the corporate office who actually cares… Do it often enough so that you don’t lose sight of what’s real.”

On leadership, Miglani writes, “We do it by working side by side with our people, modeling the behavior so they learn and grow… It’s about helping your employees, colleagues, and team achieve success.”